God bless this old cuss walkin’ around in the rain with a point-and-shoot (Panasonic Lumix Lx5).  Why he doesn’t take one of the Nikons, even the D70, I don’t know.  It’s just easier with the small camera and the “MAG” (L. L. Bean Sea Washed Guide Bag).

Day on day on day indoors . . . alone . . . the reader has no idea what that’s like . . . and every excursion out — shopping, dining; dining, shopping; driving, shopping, dining — cost some $$$ no longer easily replaced, much less available.

That’s now these walks in the park come about.

Via the virtual travel options at the desktop, I can chat with Facebook buddies 9,000 miles away — and do — but back on physical earth, the gasoline’s costing about $50 a tank (yeah, 6-cylinder Mustang too — not exactly a petrol hog) and food’s up and rent’s up and all of that.

Glad I got the Barbour when I did.

Silkoil works.

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Panic is not an option.

Bombay Safire is, but the same also signals that I didn’t keep the bar in Gordon’s.

Or haven’t.

Instead the eyes are narrowing, drawing their bead, taking aim with Communicating Arts, my only real vehicle, and taking that deep breath — and perhaps watching 60 Minutes in a couple of hours followed by movies — before diving into a new campaign.

For work.

There are moments in which I’d like to return to the early days of Oppenheim Arts & Letters, but old “OA&L” begat BackChannels and this blog, separating All That Politics from my continuing enthusiasm for the fine and lively arts!

Time and $35 per month suggested I move the old main “CA” site to new servers ($25 per month, reseller’s account, paid in advance).

Done.

America’s business community and I shall struggle along together at least until this time next year.

God willing.

Until then, Hagerstownians and the rest of the world, if you see the white beard beneath the blue mack atop the jacket with the zipper on the wrong side — totally wrong for Americans — say hello (in there).

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